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Tag Archives: November

After suffering from cold and dealing with rl stuff, I am actually proud of that total. It’s not perfect nor ideal but it’s better than none. Therefore, this update is going to be a short one as expected.

In terms of story, my FMC and her fellow first formers have just met their new house leader. Having received the cold shoulder from her fellows, my FMC is talking to said house leader, who is questioning her over her reluctance to try new food.

There is potential character growth seeds here but whether they grow or not, I don’t know. The conversation may well get ignored. Speaking of which, I have also been thinking about an idea that I am wondering if I could pull off with my FMC’s mother. It has potential for wider effects on characters and character relationships so I am treating it as a possibility.

In other news, I have joined NaNoWriMo once more but have resigned myself to the fact that 50,000 words is never going to happen. I learnt my lesson from last year that a November NaNo is never gonna be completed fully with everything else going on. I will be writing and logging word counts (staying with this story) instead and cheering everyone else on from the sidelines.

Plan for now though is to write, catch up and just get rid of this cold. A quick question though if you would be so kind to answer: years or forms? I keep flip-flopping and was wondering if anyone has any ideas. The story is set in an AU Britain where magic is known and out there but regular humans have a habit of turning a blind eye to it. Be grateful for any responses.

I am quite proud of that total despite not writing for 9 days and it cut some of my deficit.

Most of what I wrote was exposition stuff, description and explaining how the school works. It’s not exactly the most interesting but necessary. I also went off track too by writing a scene from later in the story and a scene that really belongs in a possible sequel. They explore a possible story line that I am still figuring out and don’t want to discuss at the moment as discussed in my last update. I have also been reconsidering certain characters and their portrayal and who they are really. That could be an interesting experience as the changes are things I have never attempted writing before.

This is only an early draft so what’s written now will get rewritten hopefully and some story lines, characters and ideas may get stripped out.

I have also spent the end of last month working on a suggestion from Draebox of having a second project to work on when I hit a block on the first. Currently, that project is looking like it could be my NaNoWriMo/November 2014 and very little progress has happened however I have had a breakthrough on it. The second project may change yet but we will see.

Overall, last month was quite successful and the exposition will help me later. Having a second project could help so what I discuss in these updates could vary. I will try not to make it confusing. Aims for this month? Get as much written as possible to delay any issues that will present themselves over the next two months due to life stuff. I will be incredibly busy so writing will fall to the wayside. It is inevitable but if I can get ahead now, that will help a lot. No plans to take part in NaNoWriMo fully but I will try to enter some words some days.

How was last month for you? Plans for this month? Entering NaNoWriMo in November. Don’t be afraid to comment below.

Just a quick update having realised I haven’t posted any sort of update on here. Been very distracted with actual writing, life and the Draebox challenges. If you’ve read my Twitter feed, you get an idea of what’s been going on.

In terms of story, there isn’t really a lot to tell. The characters have been sorted and are taking in their new surroundings and the garden party that has started the year. Very Hogwarts-esque but that is unavoidable I think. It’s a definer of the trope arguably so all magic school stories will be compared to it. For me and this story, having houses and an opening ceremonial meal just fits. I am thinking of taking it more along a Malory Towers line which had a house system as well if not the meal so it still works. I have also had a few more ideas for different characters which could yet be dropped but that’s the fun of drafting, you can try things out before setting the story permanently.

Going forward, the main goals are to keep writing, read the books I received from Draebox and just keep going. I want to get as much written as possible right now because I know I will be seriously hampered in my ability to write from mid-November to Christmas. I have had to drop my target word count for November to 2,500 as I am not sure how willing to write I will be with how tired life is going to make me. The drop in target has also let me drop my deficit from 16,000 to 3,600 words. Much more manageable.

Unless I write any more or do any more planning, I think I can call that my final word count for the month. It hasn’t been the easiest of months as noted in my other updates and, to be fair, it’s been 5,000 words of not much really.

The month started with my FMC getting up, dressed and going to the train station to start at Halowin, with some nervousness and apprehension. Her familiar revealed he is snobbish and possibly has a dark personality to match hers, after referring to her family as worms. Her step/non-dad meanwhile, after having it pointed out that everyone will know who she is before long, told her to keep her head down as he doesn’t want anyone connecting her to his cabal(a band of dark magic users). Naturally, my FMC plans to make herself known, for all the right reasons but obviously, that is asking for trouble. She has also discovered her grandfather’s work partner has a wife and twin sons, one of whom is her love interest. His brother met his when they boarded the train. An argument with another pupil has shown that my FMC has a strong sense of justice when she defended a disabled pupil as well as having an attitude to match.

When you compare that to other month’s, that’s a few hours of story time in a few thousand words. Very little but it does feel right for now. I haven’t written everyday this month and I have spent the last few days planning (unsuccessfully) for next month. It has made me realise though that taking a break and working on a different project for the next month might be what I, and the story, needs: the chance to go back to it with fresh eyes.

As for what I am going to write next month, that’s all up in the air really. As stated above, planning has been unsuccessful. Bitten by two plot bunnies, I tried planning and working one idea into something coherent whilst the other remains illusive as it pertains to another idea that still needs to time to develop I feel before I can really give it a go. Neither I feel is ready to be written or even attempting to and since I need a break from the current story, it left me facing a month of pantsing it. (To those unfamiliar with that term, “pantsing” means going into the month with no plan, no plot, no character, no nothing and just writing).

Me, myself and I also know that is a bad idea as even I need some sort of plan or plot to at least know which story points I need to be working towards to make sure the story is coherent and has a chance of even being bullet pointed later if need be for later reviewing. That might be why my mind today gave me the idea of working on a story that I have done before for NaNoWriMo (November 2012), done some reworking of before but wondering now if maybe I should do the overhaul for Camp next month. I suppose I should just wait for midnight tonight, open a new document and see what I write.

So how was the last month of writing for you? Good? Bad? Discovered something new? If you are entering Camp NaNoWriMo next month, are you a planner ready for the off or a pantser who is just going to sit and write? Perhaps you are like me and have to know certain beats of the story before starting. Let me know down below if you want. I don’t bite! Honest!

And practically all those words are about familiars because, yes, my FMC got her cat familiar. She has learnt that her oldest brother is all right when the mood takes him and that the crows and ravens she has seen hanging around in the tree in the garden over the years are actually her siblings familiars. She has also been told that dark magical practitioners are not limited to certain familiars.

I think that’s going to play a part in the finale of the story. I’ve had a few more thoughts about the finale and it’s effect on my FMC but I think I need to write and cement those thoughts and ideas before I commit to them. I just don’t want to end up going down the wrong path plus I have some concerns about being too cliché or making her Mary Sue-ish.

I have a 5,000 word target for this month so obviously, I am racing ahead of where I need to be at this point which is good I feel. It leaves me free to get this month’s word count then start building up any buffer I may need for later in the year, because life will impact on writing plus I haven’t finished a 50k November since 2012. I miss that target (and possibly my July Camp 25k target) with no buffer and I can say goodbye to my yearly word target. I am 5.2k words ahead but it never hurts to be ready. If I can write more than my target, I might as well do that and enjoy the feeling of having slack days with little or no consequence.

How’s your writing coming along? Continuing your Camp project, started something new or perhaps gone back to another project? Hope you are having fun whatever you are doing?

Nothing much to tell. Most of what I have written is redrafting of some writing I did last Sunday on the WAY On The Go app which failed to send to my e-mail address once more. I am starting to wonder if it just does not work on Kindle. So it’s only been my characters finally becoming a couple that has happened.

On the other hand, I have done some thinking and it is mostly surrounding a potential new idea for Camp in April and maybe some rewriting or the continuing of writing of other past NaNoWriMo stories. Camp is the place to do rewrites I think, at least for the first few drafts when it’s major changes being done. Of course, this is just my opinion.

The first story under consideration is my November 2014 hotel story with the witch and the werewolf. The direction of the story differed from my original thinking and I think that was the story’s undoing. I would like to go back and rewrite that story, if only to follow the original story idea.

The other is my July 2015 story about the witch from the dark family background. The only reason I stopped writing it is because I needed a break I think, along with the Post-NaNo Blues. I may completely rewrite the story as certain aspects kept changing and I never fully ironed out. Since I’ve had a break and whilst I was writing the story that took place years later, I realised that there was character stuff that needed changing and completely redoing.

Another reason I been thinking about it is because I have bought an etiquette book, reproduced from the 1800’s, for general research as I’ve noticed a lot of my writing lately has required me to think about or research etiquette and deportment among other things for stories. Having a go to guide on hand hopefully will help, especially with my July 2015 idea.

If course I still have nearly two months to think about and decide, as well as the fact I still have the new idea to flesh out and consider. In the meanwhile, I do have my current writing to be doing. Hopefully it will be a little more successful this next week. How’s your writing going? What do you think of the idea that Camp is a good place for rewriting or continuing old stories? Are you thinking about Camp yet or am I thinking too far ahead? Do comment below.

The FMC has met up with other girls who were in the same scheme as her to get an education, she’s been interviewed and was worried she had screwed it up but did get a job offer. Not for a teaching position but for a personal tutor position (that may yet change again). She then returned to the mainland UK and ended up fighting with her boyfriend/not-boyfriend. I have written a lot of back story stuff, mainly because I was after words and a little stuck but I should be okay.

Here’s hoping this week I can at least catch up a little and get even more of the story done. How are things for you? Good? Bad? What’s the plan for this next week? Don’t be afraid to comment below.